Soft Community: Developing the Social Capacities of Museums

Abstract

This article explores how museums can engage social capacities that correlate with increases in interpersonal connection and social trust. While analyzing data from a comprehensive audience research study conducted in Spring 2025 at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, the authors uncovered an interesting social dynamic occurring between the institution and its visitors: visitors described a felt sense of connection between themselves, the museum, and other visitors, even when no interpersonal interaction occurred. This connection—rooted in a shared visit experience—features specifically demonstrated values: welcome, fun, agency, and curiosity. Theorizing from the study’s results, the authors propose a new framework for museum capacity-building called soft community. Soft community is a social dynamic that encourages individual belonging and enjoyment in a communal social experience, which results in a collective sense of connection and shared purpose across lines of difference. This article outlines practical strategies and tactics for museums to engage their physical spaces, collections, and programming to create and sustain this dynamic. As museums endeavor to develop stronger relevance and civic engagement, the authors propose soft community as a way museums can increase social impact and counter contemporary narratives of divisiveness.